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Letters to the Editor Election Thoughts Dear Mr. Martin; This is from an article in which a Zimbabwean politician was quoted as saying that children should study the 2000 Presidential event closely for it shows that election fraud is not only a third world phenomena.... 1. Imagine that we read of an election occurring anywhere in the third world in which the self-declared winner was the son of the former prime minister and that former prime minister was himself the former head of that nation's secret police (CIA). 2. Imagine that the self-declared winner lost the popular vote but won based on some old colonial holdover (electoral college) from the nation's pre-democracy past. 3. Imagine that the self-declared winner's 'victory' turned on disputed votes cast in a province governed by his brother! 4. Imagine that the poorly drafted ballots of one district, a district heavily favoring the self-declared winner's opponent, led thousands of voters to vote for the wrong candidate. 5. Imagine that members of that nation's most despised caste, fearing for their lives/livelihoods, turned out in record numbers to vote in near-universal opposition to the self-declared winner's candidacy. 6. Imagine that hundreds of members of that most-despised caste were intercepted on their way to the polls by state police operating under the authority of the self-declared winner's brother. 7. Imagine that six million people voted in the disputed province and that the self-declared winner's 'lead' was only 327 votes. Fewer, certainly, than the vote counting machines' margin of error. 8. Imagine that the self-declared winner and his political party opposed a more careful by-hand inspection and re-counting of the ballots in the disputed province or in its most hotly disputed district. 9. Imagine that the self-declared winner, himself a governor of a major province, had the worst human rights record of any province in his nation and actually led the nation in executions. 10. Imagine that a major campaign promise of the self-declared winner was to appoint like-minded human rights violators to lifetime positions on the high court of that nation. None of us would deem such an election to be representative of anything other than the self-declared winner's will-to-power. All of us, I imagine, would wearily turn the page thinking that it was another sad tale of pitiful pre- or anti-democracy peoples in some strange elsewhere. Joanne Hall Mi. State House E-mail Bush/Cheney Public Watch Network If you're looking for a way to redirect your anger after the partisan Supreme Court's decision here's my idea that will require everyone's participation: Each time Bush/Cheney makes a move that has an impact on our lives we must share it with everyone, including the Corporate and alternative media. Large groups, grassroots organizations, and individuals will need to pay close attention, report and share information each and every time they observe any misery that can be attributed to these maniacs. Environment: I'm expecting that Bush will make dioxin and other poisons essential nutrients. Hell, Reagan tried to get ketchup declared a vegetable for school lunch programs, Bush could try to get dioxin served for dessert. This would be a cost-effective way for industry to dispose of their waste. Seriously, we'll need careful reporting of every forest and wetland we lose, and any other Bush decision that results in further destruction of our environment and increased public health risks. Before and after photographs are encouraged. Mental Health: I work with the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. Bush executes them. I will be searching for old 50's bomb shelters where I can hide these people if Bush comes after them. Maybe he'll just take their homes and food away. It's okay. In Midland we have the Mackinac Center, the conservative think tank who speaks for compassionate conservatives like John Engler. The Mac Center (non-profit) spent over 3 million dollars to remodel the old Woolworth store on Main Street for their headquarters. A few years ago one of their brilliant scholars wrote a paper entitled, "How To Become a Millionaire On Minimum Wage." I'll take the disadvantaged people there to live and hopefully these brilliant scholars can put us up and teach us survival skills, or NOW, "How to Live on $3.35/hr." (Texas minimum wage). Health Care: Anyone have any of those big old canvas tents and some extra cots? We could set up our own hospitals, ideally next to dumpsters near posh restaurants frequented by the rich. We'll need a little patch of land to grow herbs for our medicine. Come to think of it, with an increased military budget, the army might donate their old tents and even throw in a few blankets. I'm not kidding about a very aggressive Public Citizen Watch! Let's not make it easy for them! Sincerely, Diane Hebert Midland If any readers would like to follow-up on Diane's idea, please send your tales to The Review. We will post them in a new section on our web site. The Review welcomes your letters & comments. Please address all correspondence to: Letters to the Editor o Review Magazine 318 S. Hamilton St. Saginaw, MI 48602
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